Lake County Board hands reins to newcomer

New chairman touts transparency, efficiency

The Lake County Board voted unanimously Monday to replace its chairman with a relative newcomer who vowed to improve transparency, accountability and efficiency of the countywide governing body.

Aaron Lawlor, 30, of Vernon Hills, who has served on the board since 2009, replaces David Stolman, of Buffalo Grove. Both men are Republicans who support economic growth and the extension of Illinois Highway 53 north through Lake County.

Stolman, who has served for two decades on the County Board, took over the leadership role in 2010, when former Chairwoman Suzi Schmidt was elected to an Illinois Senate seat. Schmidt declined to run for re-election this year after publicized reports that police intervened in several domestic disturbances between Schmidt and her husband.

"I would like to see us incorporate more of our board members' ideas into actual policy initiatives," said Lawlor, who worked on U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk's staff when Kirk was a congressman. "For instance, how can we be more transparent in our bidding policies, and how can we better advocate for our residents for property tax reform?"

Lawlor represents District 18, which includes all of Vernon Hills and Indian Creek as well as portions of Hawthorn Woods, Long Grove and unincorporated Lake County.

The move appeared to come as a surprise to Stolman, 64.

Colleagues "said I did a magnificent job," Stolman said after Monday's County Board vote in Waukegan.

"It's nothing I did wrong," he said. "The board members decided to go to a youthful representation. Rather than have a knockdown drag-out (fight), I decided unity was better."

Several board members, before casting their vote for Lawlor, cited his work with local, state and federal officials. He was initially appointed to the County Board in 2009 and elected to the position one year later, according to a news release. Lawlor served on the Cook Memorial Public Library District board from 2003 to '09, the last four years as president.

He also worked as deputy district director and political director for Kirk for seven years and worked on Kirk's U.S. Senate campaign.

When nominating Lawlor for chairman, Lincolnshire board member Ann Maine described him as having "consistently demonstrated a high level of personal integrity, the ability to bring people together to solve problems and strategic thinking that is so often missing in today's world. It is the latter, the strategic thinking, that sets Aaron apart."

Lawlor said he spent hours in living rooms and coffeehouses listening to the concerns of board members and hopes to see their ideas become reality.

Stolman said he and Lawlor share the same goals.

"It's every single thing that I promoted (that) they decided to incorporate into their agenda," Stolman said.

The County Board also elected Carol Calabresa, of Libertyville, as its vice chairman.